If you saw the movie Robin Hood, then you know that it was quite a spectacle. With a huge supporting cast, it was very much like a Lord of the Rings reunion. One of the most memorable scenes is when Robin Pattinson plays Batman, who is answering reporter Betty Penzler’s questions about the death of his arch-enemy, Raoul Barry. With his distinctive British accent, he says: “You know, it’s like he sprang a leak and sank. […] It was a very unfortunate accident. […] The truth is, some accidents are quite inexplicable. They just happen.”
What happened to Robin Pattinson is indeed a tragedy. The actor, who was best known for his role as Timothy Ross in the Batman (1989) television series, died on August 24th, 2019, after collapsing on set while filming the horror movie A Night at the Museum in New York City.
Robin Pattinson was 57 years old. He was a father to three children, and spent the last years of his life working on family man deeds.
As the news broke last week, people all over the world were quick to pay their respects. From his family to his casting team, everyone expressed their shock and grief at the passing of such a beautiful man.
Robin Pattinson was a true lion amongst men, and his legacy will live on in the many men and women he inspired to become officers of the law. Below, we explore how Robin Pattinson’s Batman performance inspired this new bat suit.
The Look Of Pain
The first thing that comes to mind when you think of Robin Pattinson is his physical appearance. He was a very stocky man, with broad shoulders and a bunch of muscles. What’s more, he had a very defined six-pack that made it look like he was directly out of a weight loss commercial.
This, of course, is not accidental. Actor Jared Gilliam once said that when he played Batman in the 1989 Batman movie, Robin Pattinson was his model for creating the character. Jared Gilliam also talked about how he copied Robin Pattinson’s body language and walk, as well as his sense of humor. To add even more to this, his acting teammate, Tara MacLeman, revealed that Robin Pattinson’s walk and sense of humor were the basis for her own sense of Batman.
The Performance
Before we get to the subject matter, let me take this opportunity to justify the title of this article. Many will argue that Robin Pattinson’s Batman is the best version of the character ever on screen. In my opinion, this is a bold claim, and I think that it deserves to be challenged.
The first thing that comes to mind when you think of Robin Pattinson is his incredible performance as Batman. In fact, I’d put his work in the top three of his most famous performances, alongside Lions for Lions, and Pier Parker.
Robin Pattinson was a studio star, obviously, but he was also a character actor. Like many great actors, he was able to transpose himself to another character, in this case, the street-smart yet lonely Batman. It’s not just that he was good as Batman. He was such a natural at playing the character that it almost seemed like he was born with the character in him.
For example, in Pier Parker, he plays a gangster named Charlie Mikko, and in that movie, he uses a British accent for the first time. Even before the movie, you could tell that Robin Pattinson was having a great time playing this Italian guy named Charlie Mikko. It was almost like he was living the character in real life, but simpler and more manly.
While acting on screen, he was known to wear camouflage gear made by the firm Helmut Kiesewetter, who also specialized in military and espionage gear. It’s not just that he was able to convince an audience that he was a batman. He was also costumed in a way that made him look like he had just raced against Time Traveller, the villain from the Doctor Who episode “The Curse of Time.”
Also, he takes this opportunity to tell you that despite his role in the Batman series, he really did not love the character. This is something that he repeatedly showed in interviews throughout his acting career. He said that he actually liked playing the character of Bruce Wayne, but he wasn’t given a chance to show all of himself in the suit.
Inspiration
Now that we’ve established that Robin Pattinson is an incredible actor, and that his performance as Batman is amongst the best of all time, let’s take a minute to examine how this performance inspired the latest bat suit.
There’s a scene in the film Robin Hood where Robin Pattinson interviews reporter Betty Penzler about the arch-enemy of his character, Batman, named Raoul Barry. For the scene, he wears a beautiful green bat suit, and it’s one of the most memorable scenes from the movie.
What happened to Raoul Barry is that he was murdered. After Barry’s death, a group of masked men storm the house of the famed arch-enemy, and one of them steals his bat. This incident triggered the creation of the new bat suit.